Becoming a Family
by KitLee
Summary: Once upom a time they were high school sweethearts, almost married. Now they are reconnecting and trying to pick up the pieces of their past to create a bright future. But with all the obstacles in their way, including themselves, can they do it? JC


Title: Becoming a Family  
  
Author name: KitLee  
  
Author e-mail: Kitlee02@aol.com  
  
Category: Drama  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Joey/Caitlin. Once upom a time they were high school sweethearts, close to getting married. Now, over ten years later, they are reconnecting and trying to pick up the pieces of their past together to create a bright future. But with crossed purposes, an inexplicable relationship, and meddling children, it'll take a miracle for them to say "I do." One fan's look at how the J/C relationship will develop this season on TNG.  
  
Disclaimer: The people/places, etc. aren't mine. They are the property of Playing with Time, Inc. and/or Epitome. I'm not sure which one owns them. Anyway, they are all from Degrassi, so thanks exec-types for letting me play with them for a bit.  
  
Author's Note: I really like Degrassi, but I've only seen TNG, not JH/HS (of which I've only read episode summaries so far). However, I like the characters in JH/HS more than the TNG kids, so they are about whom this fic is mostly. I hope you read/review, and enjoy.  
  
Looking back, Craig should have realized that this one would be different from the first time he saw them together. It was a normal Saturday in Toronto, and after a full day of basketball with the guys and meeting Ashley in the park, Craig was ready to collapse on the couch and just watch some TV.  
  
"Hey Joey, Angela, I'm home," Craig called as he let himself in. As the cool air hit him, he remembered that Angela was at a friend's house, but where was Joey? Craig shrugged. No matter what the causes, Craig had the house to himself for at least another half hour. He was tempted to invite someone over, like Ashley. But she had music lessons, and Sean, the only other person he's invite, had a date with Emma.  
  
Bored, Craig flopped on the cough and flipped on the TV. He was channel surfing when a decidedly female voice from behind startled him.  
  
"Hi, you must be Craig."  
  
Craig turned in surprise. Standing behind the couch, clad in a t-shirt and boxers that Craig assumed were Joey's, was a blonde-haired woman. Strikingly lovely, she looked familiar, though Craig couldn't say how. Seeing his shock, she asked, "Did Joey not tell you that I'm in town?" There was another pause, and she added, "Don't you remember me?"  
  
Craig thought hard. "You were...uh...you were at the wedding last year," he said slowly remembering.  
  
"Mmm-hmm. I'm Caitlin Ryan. I'm an old friend of Joey's."  
  
Craig nodded blankly. He still didn't quite get how this explained why she was standing in the living room in Joey's clothes. Instead of pressing this though, he asked, "So where's Joey?"  
  
"He went to pick up your sister a few minutes ago."  
  
"Ahh," Craig said. He turned back to the TV, feigning engrossment, but every so often he would steal glances at her. Taking his "ah" to mean the conversation was over, Caitlin had gone into the kitchen and was now drinking juice while reading the newspaper. This morning they had been in such a rush that the kitchen was still a mess -- dishes piled in the sink, newspaper sections strewn about the table, etc. Craig felt embarrassed to have her in this mess, especially since the section she was reading (international news) was stained with milk from when Angela had knocked over her cereal bowl. Everything seemed so blah, too blah.  
  
Craig turned back to the TV. On screen, an ad for Nyquil was replaced with an ad for an environmental TV show. Craig was about to turn back to Caitlin when he realized that it was her image expounding the importance of preserving natural resources.  
  
"You're that Caitlin Ryan, with the TV show?" Craig asked suddenly.  
  
"Yeah," Caitlin said from the kitchen. "Are you interested in that sort of stuff?  
  
"Uh no, not really. I just saw your commercial."  
  
"Oh god. I hate that thing. It's so embarrassing."  
  
"No, no, it's good. You look good in it. I mean, you look like a natural up there."  
  
"Thanks. That's sweet of you to say." Caitlin smiled at him. "So you're in the tenth grade, right? How's that going?"  
  
"Uh, it's going pretty good. School hasn't started yet actually, but it should be fine."  
  
More silence followed, which Craig broke. "Ms. Ryan, can I ask you a question?"  
  
"Sure. And Craig, you can call me Caitlin."  
  
"Okay. What happened to your clothes?"  
  
Caitlin blushed. "Joey and I went by the lake, and we were being silly and messing around, and he said something mean in jest. So I pushed him in, and Joey of course pulled me in too. We came back here to dry off."  
  
Craig opened his mouth to say more, but just then the door opened and Joey called out, "Hey, we're home."  
  
"Craig!" Angela cried, running to jump on him. "Guess what I did today?  
  
"What?" Craig asked, returning her hug.  
  
"We made masks!"  
  
"You did? What kind of mask did you make? Was it a scary mask?" Craig asked, in his dinosaur voice, with one eye still on Joey and Caitlin. They seemed engrossed in each other, to the point that Joey had barely said hello to Craig when he'd come in. As Angela cheerfully babbled about her day, he found himself enchanted by the couple. They were so beautiful together, so happy, so ... perfect.  
  
*****  
  
Although she had planned on leaving as soon as her clothes were clean, preferably before Angela and Craig had come home, Joey wouldn't let her leave before dinner. Privately Caitlin felt like an interloper interrupting their peaceful family dynamics, though she tried not to show this. By the time dinner had been eaten, coffee had been consumed, and dishes had been washed, it was pretty late. Angela had already gone to bed (had Craig tucked her in and read her a story?), and Craig was sitting on the couch watching TV and occasionally staring at them like a teenaged chaperone.  
  
"Wow," she said as she noticed the time, "Joey, I really should be going now."  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said reluctantly. They both rose from the table, by this time clad in their normal clothes. "Need a ride?"  
  
"No, that's okay. I can just call a cab and pick up my car," she said pulling out her cell phone.  
  
"A cab? Caitlin, just let me give you a ride."  
  
"But I need to get my car, and that's parked all the way by the lake..."  
  
"So get it tomorrow. It's the weekend."  
  
"Okay. I guess it'll be fine."  
  
"Great. Hey Craig," he directed to the couch, "I'm taking Caitlin home. I'll be back in a bit. I have my cell if you need anything."  
  
Craig gave an acknowledging grunt, and the two went out to the garage.   
  
However, once they got there, Joey groaned.  
  
"Damn it. I locked my keys in the car."  
  
"Are you sure?" Caitlin bent down trying to peer in the window.  
  
"Let me check in the house," he said running back in.  
  
Caitlin twisted her head and squinted. Sure enough, the keys were there, lying on the driver's seat. Joey came out. "I couldn't find them."  
  
She pointed to the car. "They're in there. Don't you have a spare?"  
  
Joey shook his head. "Not here. It's at work."  
  
She sighed. "I guess I'll call that cab after all."  
  
"It seems kind of dangerous," he warned.  
  
"Oh Joey, it's perfectly safe," she said. Into the phone she said, "Yes, hello. Yes, I'd like to get a cab sent to 309 Degrassi Street. Thanks." The operator put her on hold while she checked the available cabs, and Caitlin yawned deeply. A sudden hiccup popped out, and Joey burst out laughing.  
  
"Joey," she hissed, hiccupping.  
  
He laughed harder. And then, just to annoy her more (one of her best looks, in his opinion), he grabbed the cell phone away from him.  
  
"Joey! (hiccup) Joey! I'm on the phone!" She tried to snatch it back, but Joey started running around the garage, waving the phone in the air, laughing his ass off.  
  
"Not anymore," he said solemnly. "You'd better drink some water and get rid of those hiccups, Caitlin."  
  
"Joey!" She was chasing him around, but she wasn't fast enough. "I'm on hold!" She finally managed to corner him and tried to grab the phone out of his hands. He was only about an inch taller, but he was using that inch to its full advantage. "Joey!"  
  
A tiny voice squeaked out of the phone, and Joey held it up to his ear. "Hello," he said, making shhh faces at Caitlin who stamped her foot into his own. He pretended to ignore her. "I see. Are you sure that's how long it would take? All right then, thank you, but we won't be needing the cab tonight. Bye." He hung up and handed the phone to Caitlin.  
  
"Joey! That was my cab. I have to go home tonight."  
  
"Not that badly. The price was outrageous --"  
  
"I'm the one who'd be paying for it."  
  
"--and besides, it couldn't get here for about another hour."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Oh," she said, mollified. "But how am I supposed to get home tonight?"  
  
"So don't. You can crash here tonight, and tomorrow we can go to the dealership and then we'll get your car."  
  
She gave him a pointed look. "Is that what all this," she waved her hand around trying to encompass everything, "was about?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You, chasing me around and taking my phone and stuff. Was it all to get me to...um..."  
  
"You mean, am I trying to get you into bed with me?" he seemed mildly amused.  
  
"Well," she said defensively, "it just seems like today you've been...well, we've both been actually...rather hormonal and juvenile."  
  
"Me? Juvenile?"  
  
"Oh come on Joey, throwing each other in the lake, going to that movie and throwing popcorn at the screen, I felt like we were back in Junior High."  
  
Joey shrugged. "I dunno. It just was...god, Caitlin, it's good to see you again. It's good to hang out and just, you know, be together."  
  
Caitlin nodded. "Okay, okay, but I'm sleeping on the couch."  
  
The couch turned out definitely unsuitable for sleeping on, so finally she conceded and agreed to sleep with Joey (but not With him) in his room. Joey fell asleep quickly, but Caitlin lay awake for hours in his bed, feeling him sleeping next to her and feeling...what? Longing? Happiness? Regret? Some mixture of the three anyway. She had never regretted breaking up with Joey; she didn't believe in marrying your high school sweetheart. But now, lying next to him -- not even wrapped up in his arms, just lying against him like two puppies -- she prayed for Joey to find a permanent place in her life again.  
  
*****  
  
A month after their first "date" in years, Joey had no idea what was going on between him and Caitlin. Secretly, he had wanted her to spend the night that night -- as much if not more for the chance to spend more time with her as for the chance for sex. Sex hadn't followed, but sleep did, followed again by waking up and breakfast and driving around and finally (24 hours after they'd met the day before) goodbyes. This was followed by more weekends spent together doing all sorts of things. Once they'd spent four hours while Caitlin dragged Joey around looking for some new clothes for him. Another time he'd dragged her to a Toronto Blue Jays game, and they'd gotten thrown out for pissing off the people sitting around them (well, that was mostly his fault.) He let her test drive all the cars in his lot, and she took him to be audiences for numerous shows. Most Saturdays they wound up asleep in his bed. They hadn't kissed since high school, and they definitely hadn't had sex, but he had bought her a toothbrush for when she slept over. He was completely confused.  
  
It didn't help that Craig seemed certain that they were dating. To his friends at school, Caitlin was "Joey's girlfriend" or maybe his "hot girlfriend," and this prompted a call from Snake.  
  
"Is it true?" he had asked, "are you guys back together?"  
  
"What? No, who told you that?" Joey had asked, and after hanging up he was mad at Craig for spreading rumors like that. But after a few minutes thought -- trying to imagine how he would respond if Craig turned the question on himself and asked exactly what was going on between himself and Caitlin -- Joey could only conclude his own confusion.  
  
That was where he currently was: confused. More precisely, he was confused, bored, and hungry. It was past ten and a Tuesday night, so Angela was in bed, and Craig was doing homework in his room. Joey rose to make himself a sandwich and then, out of habit, he punched in a number he had long ago learned by heart.  
  
The phone rang exactly twice before she answered it.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey Caitlin, it's me."  
  
"Hi. What's up?"  
  
"Not much. I was just bored." He ate some of his sandwich.  
  
"What's that noise?"  
  
"Mmmf?" he asked, swallowing hard. "Me chewing."  
  
"Oh, so you called up here just so I could listen to you chew?"  
  
"In finer detail than in person."  
  
That comment earned him a laugh. "So really Joey, what is the reason for this call? Is everything all right?"  
  
"No, no, everything's fine, really. I was just bored and wanting contact with someone out of school."  
  
"Ahh."  
  
"So what are you doing?"  
  
"Painting my toenails."  
  
He laughed.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing. It's just such a ... girly thing. I mean, I don't know, I expected you to say that you were saving the whales or something."  
  
"Just so you know, I am also watching a special on the ecosystem of Prince   
  
Edward's Island too."  
  
"Now that's more like it," he teased.  
  
"You know, there's more to me than my work."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, that reminds me, do you want to watch The Godfather Trilogy this weekend?"  
  
He could hear her make a face on the other end. "The Godfather? All three of them?"  
  
"Come on Caitlin, it'll be fun. Angie's got a sleepover that night, and I'm sure Craig'll have plans, so it'll be just you, me, and the Corleones."  
  
"Mmm...okay. What night is it again?"  
  
"Friday."  
  
"Friday? Oh, I'm sorry. I can't. I have plans."  
  
"What, like a hot date?" he asked, joking to cover up his concern.  
  
"No, no, it's just business. My boss, Daniel, and I need to finish discussing some things before Saturday, but he doesn't get back in town until Friday night. So I'm meeting him and his daughter for dinner."  
  
"His daughter?"  
  
She gave a sort of verbal shrug. "Anyway, it hopefully won't go late, so I'll call you afterwards, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, sure," Joey said disappointed. He had been excited at the prospect of spending an uninterrupted Friday night with her.  
  
Hearing his disappointment she added, "You know what we should do? We should take a road trip somewhere."  
  
"A road trip?" he asked doubtfully. "Caitlin, we have work, and I have two kids to look after."  
  
"I know. That's why we'll have to plan it. But don't you think it would be fun to go to...I don't know, New York City, or someplace...and just sightsee for a weekend?"  
  
"Yeah, sounds great. I don't know how practical it'll be, but I'd love to do it sometime."  
  
"Great. I'll check out hotel prices and stuff and get back to you."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Caitlin sighed. "I really should go. I've got a lot of work left to do tonight."  
  
"So go do it."  
  
A pause. "But I don't want to."  
  
"Now who's immature."  
  
"Just for that I'm going to hang up on you now. Loudly."  
  
"Oooh...I'm frightened."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Well, aren't you going to hang up?" More silence. "Caitlin? Still there?"  
  
"Uh-huh..."  
  
"Boo!"  
  
"Joey! What the fuck was that?"  
  
"You were being very distracted."  
  
"Something interesting came on TV."  
  
"You're watching an environmental show. It can't be that interesting."  
  
"Hey, I like environmental sho...Hey! I have an environmental show!"  
  
"Wondering how long it would take you to get the insult."  
  
"Oh Joey."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing. It just sounded like it needed an 'Oh Joey.' "  
  
"Isn't that from a TV show?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe."  
  
"Weren't you going to hang up?"  
  
"Umm, yeah, in a second. I'm busy."  
  
"Busy? Doing what?"  
  
"Painting the nails on my right foot."  
  
"Didn't you already do that?"  
  
"No. Well, yes, but only once."  
  
"Why do you need to paint them more than once?"  
  
"To keep the paint on longer."  
  
"Ahh. You never stop teaching me things, Caitlin."  
  
"Exactly. Think about how useful this information will be when Angela wants you to paint her nails."  
  
"Don't girls do that themselves?"  
  
"Uh-uh. It takes practice to keep to neat. Better to get someone else to do it."  
  
"Ahh." In the background he thought he heard the words: 'Carrot juice constitutes murder...' "What's that in the background?" he asked.  
  
"Um...the CD player? It's Arrogant Worms."  
  
"Arrogant Worms?"  
  
"Yeah, they sing silly songs. 'I saw a man eating celery/So I beat him black and blue/If he ever touches a sprout again/I'll beat him clean in two,' " she sang.  
  
"That's a song. How come the Zits never made it? Our song was better than that."  
  
"Who knows? Maybe because Arrogant Worms means to be silly, and you thought you being good."  
  
"We were good!"  
  
"Uh-huh, right. Look, can you hang up."  
  
"What? I thought you were going to hang up on me. Hard, if I remember correctly."  
  
"I need to make another call, and it's faster if you hang up."  
  
"Nuh-uh. You were going to hang up and blast my eardrums with the force. I want to hear this."  
  
"Joey. Just hang up."  
  
"No, you hang up. Pretend you're angry with me."  
  
Before she could retort, Craig walked into the kitchen. "Joey, can I use the phone? Joey?" Seeing Joey sitting on the couch, arguing with Caitlin over who was going to hang up, he grabbed the phone and clicked it off.  
  
"Hey Craig! What was that for?"  
  
"Sorry, but I need to use the phone."  
  
"Yeah, well I was using it."  
  
"You were just arguing with your girlfriend over who was going to hang up first," Craig said. He tried to keep his tone even, but scorn crept in. "I need to talk to Spinner about a project."  
  
"She's not my girlfriend," Joey yelled as Craig retreated back to his room. 


End file.
